Budgets L. Nazareth Ends '85 With Budget Surplus

The Lower Nazareth Township supervisors last night amended the township's 1985 budget to reflect a $210,330 surplus at year's end.

The beginning 1985 balance was $159,967 and total receipts were $744,547, for assets of $904,514. Total expenses were $694,184, giving the large surplus.

Adding to the surplus were an unanticipated $45,000 more in real estate transfer taxes and $17,000 more in amusement taxes.

The township had budgeted $40,000 in anticipated transfer tax receipts and $20,000 in amusement taxes. A portion of the transfer taxes came from the unexpected transfer of large properties in the township. The tax is collected on property being sold and is 1 percent of the sale price. The Nazareth Area School District has notified Lower Nazareth it is planning to assess half of the transfer taxfrom Lower Nazareth and the district's five other municipalities beginning in July 1986.

The amusement tax is 10 percent of gross receipts on recreation business in the township. The additional income was realized because the Nazareth Raceway, a half-mile auto track at Routes 191 and 248, was renovated this year and ran more and larger events than the previous year.

Other areas that produced more income than estimated were fines, estimated at $4,500, were $7,836; interest, estimated at $9,000, was $14,810; building permits, estimated at $7,000, were $11,863; septic permits, estimated at $3,000, were $17,192, and miscellaneous, estimated at $2,000, was $14,553.

The expense side of the ledger had some changes: contracts, estimated at $198,000, were $184,189; the sewage enforcement officer's costs, estimated at $3,000, were $15,294; engineering for planning and zoning, estimated at $9,950, was $54,361; developer refunds, estimated at $4,000, were $35,383. Various highway expenses changed from an estimated $163,035 to $154,131.

In other business, the supervisors told Joseph Negrao, a partner in the Trolley Barn outlet business on Route 191, he could proceed with placing footers for a 20,000-square-foot addition at his own risk. The final plan for the addition, to the rear of the 12-store outlet, does not have final approval. The supervisors should consider the plan at their Jan. 8 meeting, but Negrao wants to begin the foundation if weather permits.

Negrao said after the meeting he plans to have the addition open in the spring. The current building, which opened in the fall, has 12 stores and 22,000 square feet. The addition will have its own entrances and also will connect with the existing outlet.